Military Vets on What You Can Learn From Their Service

Military Skills You’ll Want to Bring to Your Personal and Professional Life

Those of us who haven’t served in the military might never fully understand the weight of what serving one’s country means. Still, it’s fascinating to hear the stories and the wisdom that veterans have gained from their time in the service — and how those experiences impact their everyday lives.

It turns out there are countless lessons and skills that veterans have taken from their military service that translate into everyday lives, no matter your personal or professional status. With that in mind we asked veterans, from a range of backgrounds, to share the most important lessons they learned in the military and how those skills can help anyone tackle real life.

Always Be Situationally Aware

Deadly attacks don’t just happen in far off places such as Iraq or Gaza. Sadly, in a day and age when women at a Tallahassee yoga studio are randomly shot, we know that no place can be considered unequivocally safe. “One of the takeaways from my military training that I believe should be applied to all facets of life is the importance of maintaining situational awareness,” says former Army Captain and co-founder of Operation Heal Our Heroes, Everett Weston. (You might also recognize Weston from Bravo’s “Summer House.”) “This means knowing who’s at your front, your six and your flanks,” he says. While this clearly applies to physical safety, Weston says it also goes beyond that. “This concept can be applied to anything from a business climate to navigating a foreign country, or a New York City subway system.”

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This point was echoed by former Navy Fighter Pilot and founder/CEO of Top Gun Options, Matthew ‘Whiz’ Buckley. “Soldiers tend to be hyper-aware of their surroundings because when you’re out in the field, there’s no room for distractions,” he says. Businessmen and women should also know what’s going on around them at all times. “Figure out what your competition looks like, research them, and stay up-to-date on their current events. Are they doing something differently? You don’t want to miss out on critical revelations,” he says. If you don’t know where to start, Buckley suggests subscribing to newsletters, e-newsletters, magazines and other publications relevant to your business so you can stay well-informed.

Matthew Buckley

Every Problem Has a Solution

Mental state is everything. “Problems are always happening when you’re in the military and as a soldier you have to have the right way of thinking in order to solve them,” says former Staff Sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces, Guy Hadad. “‘Every problem has a solution’ is more than just a sentence — it’s a mindset!” Once you internalize this mindset, you can start acting upon it, he adds. “When this happens, instead of saying ‘there’s no solution’ and giving up, you start saying, ‘I will find a solution,’ and eventually you do.”

This mental technique goes hand-in-hand with improvisation, which is an incredibly important skill to have in everyday life. “No matter how prepared you are, you can’t prepare for everything,” says Hadad. The Army teaches you how to think quickly on your feet and make the best of a situation. “Think: finding a creative way to fix a problem or changing certain aspects in order to accomplish the overall goal,” he explains. In entrepreneur speak, it’s the ability to pivot.

Develop a Routine to Tackle Your Day

Small things, such as making your bed every morning, can have a huge impact on your life. The idea is that if you make your bed, you will have accomplished your first task of the day, setting the tone for the rest of your day. This concept is something that came up repeatedly in our conversations with veterans. “Having a good routine in all walks of life is incredibly important to be and feel accomplished,” says former Sergeant First Class in the Israel Defense Forces, Yaakov Edri. “It means waking up early, making your bed, working out and making to-do lists.”

Since military service is often a very physical endeavor, it’s not surprising that exercise was mentioned.. In the military, soldiers learn that there aren’t only physical benefits to be gained from working out – there are major mental ones as well. “While I never really became a morning person amidst all of the early morning wakeups, I did notice that I was typically more productive and focused at work after getting my heart and metabolism pumping after a pushup workout or a two-mile run early in the morning,” says Weston. There’s nothing like a little physical exertion to help clear your mind of stressors and prepare you to tackle the day.

Developing a solid routine also means taking pride in how you look, and that has nothing to do with vanity. “A good soldier takes pride in their physical appearance because it reflects that individual’s professionalism and attention to detail,” says Weston. That’s why he carried over that concept into his business career, making sure to wear clean and pressed clothes and keeping his hair well groomed. “I am a firm believer in the importance of first impressions, especially because these days your network is such a crucial component of business.”

Time Is Valuable

You can’t buy time, but you can control how you use it. “The army emphasizes the importance of optimizing time management so you can work more effectively because there are high stakes situations where a second could be the difference between life and death,” says Hadad. In the real world, it’s just as important to focus on working effectively and finding ways to optimize to-dos, he says. One of the ways Hadad optimizes his time is by waking up at 5 a.m.. “When you start adopting this habit, you will notice that by 8 a.m. you’ve already accomplished a lot, while other people are only starting their day.”

Let Your Endgame Be Your Drive

“To use a fighter pilot term: most Americans are very tactical and not strategic,” says Buckley. “The average American doesn't know what they're doing for lunch today, let alone what their objectives are a year from now.” Planning allows us to project our thoughts forward in space and time, so we can influence events rather than react to them, he explains. Buckley’s navy training taught him the value of both long- and short-term goals. “Most decisions should be dictated by long-term goals — don’t cut corners to get ahead; keeping your future picture in mind will help you make better business decisions, rather than quick decisions that could hurt you in the long run.”

Russell Benes, who served in the Navy for eight years and is now the owner of PuroClean Emergency Restoration Services also underlines the importance of taking a macro approach to planning. “During my time in the service, we often went months without having a day off. In life, I believe it’s important to see the bigger picture and I know that if I work hard, I will achieve my long-term goals.”

Pain Is Just a Feeling

No matter how intense, pain is temporary, says Hadad, whether it’s physical pain whether from workouts, Krav Maga, or in the field. “A thought that helped me during these times was remembering that pain is only a feeling. It’s easy to stop once you start feeling pain, but your body can go through much more than you think,” he says. The military teaches you how to separate yourself from the feeling of pain and objectively look at a situation. “This translates into my everyday life in many ways such as when I work out — I can always push past the pain of muscle soreness knowing that the mind always wants to give up before the body.”

Fuel Properly

Not only will hydrating with water help to keep you trim (people often confuse dehydration with hunger), it’s crucial for energy and mental sharpness. “Drinking plenty of water is a daily habit I picked up in the army because it’s something that’s consistently emphasized,” says Hadad. “If you don’t drink enough, you will tire and this will affect your overall performance both physically and mentally.” Seeing firsthand the effects of fueling properly is what motivated Joe Lopez-Gallego, a former Army Captain and now CEO of Kettlebell Kitchen, to start his own business. “Being a part of the military is a test of mental and physical strength, and you can’t expect to perform your best in either of those categories if you’re not fueling your body properly.” His experience inspired him to start Kettlebell Kitchen to make quality nutrition more readily available.

Cold Showers Have Value

There are many benefits to cold showers, as unpleasant as they may be. Tim Ferriss put them in the spotlight for helping to burn fat, but Hadad found that the effects go far beyond the physical. “I remember one winter post-workout getting in the shower only to realize the boiler was broken and the water was freezing,” says Hadad. He didn’t want to go to bed dirty so after a second of contemplation he decided to shower in the freezing cold. “I remember screaming for the first few seconds, but after a few more seconds of controlled breathing I got used to the water. After finishing the shower, I felt more awake and focused than I had in a long time,” he says. Now, Hadad regularly incorporates cold showers into his routine, and recommends trying them if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, want to be more focused, or if you want to train yourself to get out of your comfort zone.

Camaraderie Is Key for Success

“I’ve been competitive and independent my entire life,” says former United States Marine Corp Sergeant and founder of the Kirstie Ennis Foundation, Kirstie Ennis. But the Marine Corps taught her to think two steps ahead and consider the wellbeing of everyone around her. “Now, I always put people’s needs ahead of my own, especially when it comes to mission accomplishment, because without good morale, the process to completion always takes longer.”

The values of camaraderie also translate into team building. “In the military, our squadron was structured with people that complemented each other based on their abilities,” says Benes. “This holds true in my PuroClean business today as I understand the importance of hiring people with qualities that work well together.” By maximizing each of the team members’ abilities and potential, he’s able to build a solid team.

While your average day might look vastly different from that of a soldier,there are many military-inspired skills and lessons that can be applied across the board. From the importance of routine to maintaining awareness, you can easily incorporate these lessons into your personal and professional life.

Be Responsible for Your Own Actions

“A good leader does not just tell everyone what to do, they lead by example,” says Buckley. Rather than leaning on the work of others, you should set out to be as self-sufficient as possible, he says, so that you hold yourself accountable for your own actions. As a leader, however, you are often responsible for building a team and when that is the case, Buckley says trust and reliability are key no matter the industry.

Debrief, Debrief, Debrief

Buckley explains that post-combat, soldiers are required to debrief their mission, analyzing the strategy and all of the moving parts. What worked? What didn’t? “Incorporate this same debriefing technique into your business strategy or even your personal life,” says Buckley. After each product launch, event, or marketing campaign, take time with your team to review your successes, failures, and oversights, he says. “Doing so may shed light on things you didn’t notice or realize.” Then, you can use your learnings as a stepping stone for future ventures.

Establish and Implement a Red Team

In the military, the Red Team is a group of soldiers who assume the position of the enemy in order to seek out vulnerabilities in a mission or strategy, explains Buckley. “In business, your Red Team can play a similar role, taking on an adversary position to seek out weaknesses and limitations in your plans.” Buckley sees having a Red Team as a key way to making critical thinking and evaluation part of the planning process in which they break down your plan, piece by piece. This helps identify everything that can go wrong, ultimately giving you the opportunity to make “a bulletproof plan,” he says.